UK Unites 54 Finance Leaders to Accelerate Tokenization

The UK has launched a new industry taskforce bringing together 54 of the world's largest financial institutions to accelerate tokenization, as policymakers seek to strengthen London's position in the next generation of capital markets.

Summary:

Members include BlackRock, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Coinbase, Circle and Ripple.
The initiative aims to accelerate live tokenization projects that could generate up to £33 billion in annual economic output by 2035.
Early priorities include tokenized repo markets, digital government bonds and expanding regulated blockchain infrastructure.

Industry Heavyweights Back UK’s Tokenization Strategy

The UK has formally launched the Wholesale Digital Markets Taskforce, bringing together one of the biggest financial institutions to accelerate the adoption of tokenized financial markets.

The initiative includes some of the world’s largest asset managers, banks and digital asset companies, including BlackRock, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, UBS, Coinbase, Circle and Ripple.

Rather than focusing on research alone, the taskforce has been established to develop live tokenization use cases across wholesale financial markets, supporting the UK’s ambition to remain a leading global financial centre as capital markets increasingly migrate to blockchain-based infrastructure.

Industry estimates cited by the taskforce suggest successful implementation could generate up to £33 billion in annual economic output and approximately £14 billion in additional tax revenue for the UK by 2035.

From Pilot Projects to Live Financial Infrastructure

The group’s immediate focus is practical deployment rather than long-term experimentation.

One of its first priorities is tokenized repurchase agreements (repos), where blockchain technology can automate collateral transfers and settlement while reducing operational complexity in short-term funding markets.

The taskforce will also support broader tokenization initiatives spanning securities issuance, settlement and post-trade infrastructure, areas where distributed ledger technology is increasingly being tested by major financial institutions.

Chris Woolard, the UK Treasury’s Wholesale Digital Markets Champion, has described the effort as a “network effects race,” arguing that jurisdictions moving first to establish interoperable digital market infrastructure are likely to attract more institutional activity as adoption accelerates.

Part of a Broader UK Digital Markets Strategy

The taskforce builds on several regulatory initiatives already underway.

The UK’s Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS) has begun allowing firms to test the issuance, trading and settlement of tokenized securities under regulatory supervision, with 16 firms already approved to participate.

Separately, the UK Treasury continues developing its Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT) project, which aims to issue digitally native UK government bonds using distributed ledger technology. Earlier this year, HSBC was selected to provide the DLT infrastructure supporting that initiative.

Meanwhile, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England recently concluded an industry consultation on tokenization, signaling that tokenized securities should generally be subject to the same regulatory standards as traditional financial instruments when they present comparable risks.

Why the Initiative Matters

For banks and asset managers, tokenization extends beyond digitizing existing securities.

Supporters argue that blockchain-based infrastructure can shorten settlement times, improve collateral mobility, lower operational costs and make financial assets easier to transfer across institutions operating on compatible networks.

Those efficiencies are particularly relevant in wholesale markets, where even modest reductions in settlement friction can improve liquidity and reduce capital tied up in post-trade processes.

The broad participation of both traditional financial institutions and crypto infrastructure providers also reflects growing convergence between conventional capital markets and blockchain technology. Rather than competing to build separate financial systems, both sectors are increasingly collaborating on shared infrastructure designed for regulated markets.

Key developments to watch:

Live tokenization projects: Taskforce members are expected to begin rolling out additional real-world use cases beyond tokenized repos.
Regulatory roadmap: UK authorities plan to publish a cross-authority roadmap for wholesale market digitalization by the end of 2026, followed by consultations on rule changes in 2027.
Institutional adoption: The participation of major banks, asset managers and digital asset companies suggests tokenization is increasingly being treated as core financial infrastructure rather than an emerging technology, with institutions focusing on commercial deployment instead of proof-of-concept trials.

The information presented in this article is intended for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as financial, investment, or trading advice. Coinspress.com does not promote or advocate for any particular investment strategy, asset, or cryptocurrency project. Cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile and unpredictable – always perform your own research and seek guidance from a qualified financial professional before making any investment decisions.

Author

Alexander Stefanov

Reporter at CoinsPress

Alex is Editor-in-Chief of Coinspress and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, with nearly a decade of experience covering financial markets - crypto first, then everything else. It started in 2016 with Bitcoin. Like most people at the time, he didn't fully understand it - so he kept digging. Blockchain, tokenomics, the projects, the cycles. That curiosity never stopped, and eventually pulled him into traditional markets too: equities, commodities, macro. Not because he left crypto behind, but because you can't properly understand one without the other. What drives him is straightforward: he wants to know why something is happening, not just that it's happening. Most market coverage stops at the headline - price up, price down, here's a chart. Alex finds that kind of reporting actively unhelpful. If you walk away from an article without understanding the mechanism behind the move, what did you actually learn? He holds a degree in Tourism from New Bulgarian University - not the most obvious path into financial markets, but markets have a way of pulling in people who are simply too curious to stay out. He has authored over 200 in-depth analyses and more than 10,000 articles across crypto and traditional finance. He still thinks every day in markets teaches him something new. That's probably why he hasn't stopped.